Ratings and Reviews by namekuseijin

So it seems Buffy can't take a short break from vampire-slaying even when ordering some burger. Her trained senses and keen reflexes know all too well when there's danger around. And thus, in the limited confines of a famous fast-food chain we have to deal with these bloodsuckers as best as we can without our usual tools of trade.

This was fine enough and gives you enough ways to get things right and wrong too. Fun game, finely crafted and polished.

Some have argued about that vampires are too cunning to 1) trying to hit on a McDonald's employee and 2) getting slayed so quickly by an underpowered slayer, but frankly 1) he may just be too thirsty (and plus they were alone at night until player enters) and 2) he may not be quite such old and cunning vampire. Buffy was able to slay plenty of them with the brains of a 90's cheerleader...

anyway, good game, specially great since it's a cyoa demanding more player agency than usual...

From the outset it looked like a real stinker, but although very short and straightforward, it was quite a fun ride. Nothing major or earth shattering, but definitely worth some 10 minutes for a good laugh.

favorite line:
(Spoiler - click to show)"I'm being held hostage by God!" you reply. You hear the sound of someone hanging up, sounding pretty pissed off.


so, I got a few bad endings, the good ending and tried out a few outlandish actions for laughs. There's more detail and the outline of an actual story there than immediately perceived. Some playthroughs are a must.

Many sightseeing and characters and paths in a deeply unfulfilling experience. You read a paragraph or two of text, drag your verb into the relevant word, rinse, repeat. There seems to be no narrative arc whatsoever and the whole thing plays like a rushed marijuana-fueled egotrip without purpose and no two elements ever adding to each other.

This felt more like plain reading a short story than playing a game, which is ironic given its subject matter. Which is a meditative and imaginative speculation about emergent narratives and behaviour in games eventually evolving into something else.

Pacing doesn't help either, as the protagonist stumbles upon new characters in a hurry and seems to care too much about them by the end. Despite that and the lack of true agency, I kept going just to read more.

At first, it seemed just a cheap shot at the traditional parser-based community, but it delved deeper than that and thus was quite satisfying.

not IF proper, but fine short story, 3 stars in my book. got ending 2

3 girls on a roadtrip stop by an old motel in the middle of the desert to spend the night. Once the neon flower is lit, the hotel comes to life with a plethora of eccentric characters reeking of nostalgic times. Should the girls move ahead, should they stay? Do they even have reasons to go on? What's going on? I thought it might hide some horror behind it, but instead it treads along a Twilight Zone path.

You know, the setting and writing are pretty solid and really captivated me, despite being a bit too much of the short prose style and link-exhausting side. But then, as I kept playing to see where it leads, there it comes, tucked away in the literal middle of the road, blunt as a slap on the face: (Spoiler - click to show)the scene where they're walking to the phonebooth and they pretty much SCREAM OUT LOUD THAT ALL THIS FANTASY SETTING IS REALLY JUST AN EXCUSE FOR YET ANOTHER GAY COMING OUT SIMULATOR. just like Birdland last year and the myriads of twine output that make up most of IF these days. guess this is what we get for decades of puerile dungeon spelunking abuse...

5 stars despite it, thanks to gripping, vivid setting, lush presentation with fine typography and color schemes, some memorable characters, fine dialogues and storytelling, good dosage of drama, comedy and conspiracy... I don't know what to tell without giving out much, only that this is a must-play and well worth it.

I'd easily put this one among the best IF for novice players. It's quite short, doesn't bog the player with compass directions and still offer plenty for the diligent player to dig. Some solutions to puzzles require some leap of faith, out of box thinking or willingness to face one's fears. An all around very polished entry-level IF.

It is notable that the author doesn't really enjoy some IF conventions - notably cardinal direction navigation and intricate puzzles - and thus get rid of them in one way or the other in all his works. Here, Amaranth doesn't look feel a physical place, but a dreamland - or should it be nightmareland? The protagonist is able to instantly go at will from place to place regardless of being separate by great physical distances. He does this by EXPLORING places, or x place, which is really a smart device to just examine a map with hidden sublocations. One could say it is a dreamland that the protagonist visits by spirit alone, but the villagers in the tavern certainly think otherwise. Talking to the prince and reading one of his books may explain that in a way.

The puzzles are pretty good for an author which usually despises complex contraptions. Instead, exploring and overcoming our fears seems like the motto here.

Plot is lacking, yes. It sounds more like The Count than The Horror of Rylvania in its nostalgic nod to old games, perhaps even Castlevania: SotN. But nonetheless, a quite fit for intro IF.